French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Tuesday there can be "no room for tolerance of violence", as tens of thousands of students took to the streets nationwide to protest at the state of schools.
"Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings. Attacking a teacher does not help replace teachers," he told parliament, adding it was a "lie" to suggest the government had ordered police repression against demonstrators.
Thousands have been arrested and dozens wounded in the last days in the school protests which have seen objects set on fire outside schools and projectiles thrown at police.
But the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party and some rights groups have accused police of a disproportionate response against protesters, many of whom are minors.
Referring to instances where pupils suffered injuries, Lecornu admitted that "accidents" can happen.
But Lecornu accused the LFI, the largest single left-wing party in parliament, of having a "political agenda" to "throw the country into chaos" ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
He also announced that formal lessons in high schools would be suspended for the rest of the week to allow headteachers, teachers and pupils time for what he called "internal democracy" to discuss the situation at their particular schools.
